Letter to the Editor

I am an ROTC student here at Fresno State who is obligated to wear the Army Uniform. When I am in uniform, some teachers treat me differently and so do some students, but they never make me feel like I did last week.

I was introduced to a fellow military man, a veteran; we shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. He asked the question I often get when I wear my uniform: What do you think about the war in Iraq?

I answered that I believe that the war is legal and if called to do so, I would serve in Iraq. We exchanged positions for a few minutes, then he just must have had enough of my argument and said something I never thought I would ever hear.

He said: “I hope you go to Iraq and get what you deserve and DIE!!” I was stunned. I never thought any fellow American, veteran no less, would wish me to die.

I cannot say I was not hurt by his words. I wish I could, but maybe it is good for me to be confronted with other points of view or maybe old ones.

I just got a taste of how Vietnam veterans must have felt when they believed they were doing their duty in Vietnam only to return home to people who called them “Baby Killers.”

For me I would hope people would say: “I am praying for the death of war not the death of warriors.”

—Alexander Bumbaca